Why David Harbour worried about the Hopper, Eleven dynamic in Stranger Things 2

After being part of the SAG Award-winning Best Drama Ensemble last year, David Harbour is hoping to take the stage again this weekend, where the Netflix series is up for the same award, and him in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series category for his portrayal of Police Chief Hopper. The actor revealed to EW, though, that he faced some insecurities when entering into season 2 of the critically lauded show.

Specifically, he refers to the “serial killer” vibes of a particular scene at the end of the episode “MADMAX” in which it’s revealed that Eleven is living with Hopper in an isolated cabin in the woods.

“I was terrified that the audience’s takeaway would be that this was either sexualized in some way or that it was in some way dangerous,” he explains.

To Harbour’s delight, fans seem to have seen beyond the setting.

“I was very, very proud and overwhelmed by the response of people just getting that Hopper is a good guy and that he does really love her and care about her and is worried about her and that that relationship really resonated on a father-daughter level.”

Harbour also shares that although he had quit smoking at the end of season 1, he thought it was important to resume the unhealthy habit to prepare for season 2.

“I think Hopper is a smoker,” he says. “There’s something about a smoker; something it does to my face and my eyes and my instrument in a certain way. It affects the way I process emotion and it affects the choices that I make.”